Marks & Spencer's Gold Instant Coffee has been named the best-rated instant gold blend coffee in a Which? taste test, scoring an impressive 70% and earning a Best Buy status. Priced at £7.25 for 200g, it outperformed several big-name brands including Nescafé.
The test involved 68 coffee lovers sampling 12 different instant gold-roast-style coffees from Nescafé and other well-known brands, as well as nine supermarket own-brands such as Asda, Lidl, Waitrose and Sainsbury's. While M&S's offering is not the cheapest, it beat many competitors on taste.
One coffee enthusiast who tried the M&S blend alongside Nescafé Gold Roast described the M&S coffee as smoother and creamier, with no bitter aftertaste. The Nescafé version was stronger and more bitter in comparison. The reviewer noted that the M&S coffee is milder, but adding extra granules easily solves the issue.
Waitrose's Gold Roast also scored 70%, sharing joint first place with M&S. Priced at £3.70 for 100g, it was praised for its appearance, aroma, and flavour. Douwe Egberts Pure Gold secured joint second place with a score of 69% and a price of £8 for 190g.
Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: “Instant coffee remains popular because it’s quick, convenient, and requires no special equipment, but our taste test shows that big brands are not a guarantee of a better brew. Shoppers can save money by opting for supermarket gold blends, which can deliver just as much flavour and balance as the big-name alternatives and often for far less money.”
